On the edge you mustn't lie
by imsomeonelse
Summary: Clint and Natasha and their relationship. Through ups and downs and downs again.
1. нулевой

"Legolas, have you been hanging out with Charles -I-love-mutants-and-I-will-show-you-the-light Xavier?, because I think he messed up with your head."

"Haha. Very funny, Stark. Your sense of humor amazes me. It sounded like a bad pickup line." Clint muttered under his breath, shooting him a glare equivalent to those he shot his targets.

Bruce, who was fixing his tie in front of a mirror, laughed awkwardly.

"Charles is our friend, Tony." Steve frowned.

"I'm not offending him. I'm offending him." He replied, motioning towards Clint. "Hey, it's not my fault we always thought that you would end up-" Tony stopped when he saw Bruce glaring penetratingly at him from his mirror reflection. _Shut up, Tony._

Clint cast his eyes down to his hands, fixing his cuffs over and over again. "...Forever alone? No, no such luck." But a crease had formed between his eyebrows.

"Well," Tony crossed his legs disdainfully. "At least you scored a hot one. A dangerous one, but a hot one. All these mutants hanging around _my_ house? It better be worth it." He pointed an accusing finger at Clint. "Forget Reed and Susan, your wedding will be better. What with Pepper helping you organize and all...Damn, I shouldn't have let her quit."

Steve shot him The Look and Tony shrugged innocently, but added nothing more.

Clint snorted. "And that's why you're not my Best Man, Tony. Hands off her." He raised his eyebrows pointedly.

"I, MIGHTY SON OF ODIN HAVE ARRIVED, MY FRIENDS!" The doors burst open and Thor walked in, wielding his hammer dangerously. He apparently had been forced into a suit by Jane. Thankfully, Clint thought.

"...And that's why he isn't my Best Man, either."

Tony turned his head towards Bruce. "You lucky bastard. I can't imagine all the fun I'm missing."

"You, my friend, with the Eyes of a Hawk, will today join your lives forever with your partner! Jane told me this is an ocassion to celebrate with presents and dancing and mindless drinking! I look forward to all of them eagerly! My present I shall present to you later in the evening, for Jane has it. Darcy warned me against me gifting you a lifetime supply of PopTarts, sadly."

"That's fine, Thor, I think I can do without PopTarts for a while." Clint couldn't help but smile. "Thanks for coming, though...All of you." He glanced briefly towards Steve. "Yes, that even includes you, Stark."

"Oh, stop it you. You know you're just flattering me because I agreed to lend the Tower."

"Maybe?"

"Clint?" Steve, who had remained silent, cut in. "...How are you doing?"

He raised his gaze to look at Steve, eyes slightly wider than usual. "I'm nervous." He admitted with a smile, regaining his composture. "But, for once, that's normal."

"We should have hired the hookers for your bachelor-"

"Steve, please take him out of here."

The adressed nodded authoritatively. "Will do. We'll be waiting with the others, both of us and Thor."

"Ah, I will follow you, then, my fellow Avengers."

Tony sighed dramatically as he stood up from the sofa and extended his arm towards Steve. The latter blushed deeply, but took it.

Steve cleared his throat and added, before leaving, with an honest smile, "Congratulations, Clint. This is a great step you're taking. You should be proud. I hope...I hope everything goes swell."

"Please stop talking like we're in the 40's, Steve, dear." Tony rolled his eyes. Steve blushed even more.

"GOOD LUCK, MAN WITH THE EYES OF A HAWK!" Thor patted him on the back, causing him to cough repeatedly.

"Thanks.", he choked out just as Bruce approached him for a hug.

"You'll do great." Tony winked at him as the three men exited the room.

He wavered slightly, but then met gleaming eyes with him. Then he smiled. "I know."


	2. один

Disclaimer: Because we forgot this in the first chapter. Shhh! Anyway, not ours, obviously. Except it is. Only the characters are not. Yeah. I'm tired and at school. Please bear with me. So…thanks you wonderful people for reading :). We're glad you haven't abandoned us yet. Next chapter. We promise this story won't suck as much as it seems. Also…Movieverse. Keep that in mind. And…yeah, reviews (especially Feedback) are very, very deeply loved. Thanks and enjoy!

Natasha tapped her fingers distractedly on the counter, waiting for the 'pop!' of the toaster with little interest. Her mind wandered, jumping from one thing to another in annoyingly perfect succession, but never settling for an answer. Her eyes settled briefly on the toaster. No one was nearby-she knew that without needing to look around-but almost everyone in the house suffered from severe PTSD. A trigger sound and Bruce was hulking out and Steve was dodging and Clint was shooting an arrow. She didn't need anything unnerving in addition to the whirl of events that had taken place in the last few hours.

Thankfully, she had not only practiced, but actually trained her poker face since she was young. Back in the Red Room project. Only Clint-she cursed herself under her breath-knew what was really going on in her mind. Sometimes. Maybe Steve, too. But either way, none of the residents of the Stark Tower had noticed her sudden change in mood. Or, at least, they had refrained from mentioning. Confusion was subtle, yes, but still there, etched across her features.

"Would you make me one, too?"

She jumped back. She was accustomed to noticing the presence of somebody else. The footsteps gave them away; Thor's boisterous, Steve's shy, Tony's careless, Bruce's careful...

Clint's voice took her by surprise and sent an uncomfortable shiver down her spine.

The toast decided it was time to pop out at the same time. Natasha turned around instinctively and caught herself just in time from pulling out her gun.

"Take mine." She sighed, relaxin only slightly. Her head started pounding. "I'm not that hungry." The piece of toast burnt nicely against her fingers. She took it idly, placed it on a plate, and pushed it towards Clint.

"I'm not that hungry." He smiled. His eyes looked incessantly for hers. She foresaw him leaning in for a soft kiss on the lips.

Natasha gave a step back and finally met his eyes with determination. And a small frown.

"Don't do that." She muttered. She tried to keep the authoritarian tone away from her voice, but failed. "Not now."

Clint remained unfaltering. "You said-"

"That I was going to think about it"

"Last night-"

"Clint" She repeated, this time louder.

It was not the moment to discuss such matters. The least of her concerns was that, even if it had insisted in resurfacing every once in awhile in her mind. She did not have the time nor right mind to deal with it now. The call was more important than any sort of menial names to start calling each other. Which she would probably not agree too, either way. Probably...

No. Not dwelling on it now.

"I'm going to take a shower. You should probably eat that before Stark wakes up...or Thor." She disappeared through the door of her room in a matter of seconds, before he even had time to add anything to the conversation.

Clint sighed as he heard the lock and took the plate from the counter sullenly.

Natasha showered quickly. The decision had already been taken from the moment she had heard his voice. The only problem now-even if it was not a big one (damn S.H.I.E.L.D.)-was forming a plan to disappear from the radar without anyone noticing.

And packing. What do you pack when you don't even know where you are going? In a way, she had grown used to the uniforms S.H.I.E.L.D. provided them and the specific sets of instructions she never followed anyway and, of course, the presence of Clint. When was the last time she had embarked on a mission without him? Not since she had worked undercover for Tony, at least. Not a lot of time, in retrospective. She could bare to part part from him for a few weeks, months, maybe.

She threw a couple of clothes she rarely ever used into a "discrete" bag (a Chanel Tony had decided to gift her her last birthday-to mock her, mainly) along with her Widow's Bite (she'd figure out how to get those through the airport later), and her S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. That's all she needed.

Now, getting out of the Stark Tower.

As far as she was concerned, she could simply walk out and no one would notice. S.H.I.E.L.D. was an issue, however. She had worked there long enough to figure out they were all being kept track off. There was a special unit in charge only of keeping an eye on Banner.

Outside her room, in the main floor, Thor was happily entertained watching TV and laughing boisterously at Sesame's Street. Tony and Bruce were nowhere to be seen, so that meant that either they were down at the lab or Tony had a hangover. Both options benefitted her equally. But Clint, Clint was still hanging around the kitchen, eating a more elaborate breakfast than toast.

Steve had most likely prepared it. They were eating together and Clint _wouldn't_ cook to save his life (the cookies he baked on rare occasions were delicious, though). The two of them glanced up the moment she approached them.

"You're up late, Steve." She smirked at him.

Steve replied with a smile. "I'd been working out in the gym with Tony since I woke up. He's back asleep now, though."

"Hey, I'm your sparring partner." Natasha said nonchalantly. Not that she was much of a challenge.

"That's not fair for Steve." Clint choked back a laugh, although his eyes were firmly set on her. "You always defeat him with that...weird tigh attack. He gets too embarrassed to do anything but surrender."

"I don't." Steve replied, his cheeks glowing pink. He did, though. "Call me old-fashioned, but I'm still not very comfortable with hitting a dame...I mean, a girl. Woman. Yes."

"You'll get over it, Cap." Natasha rolled her eyes. "We'll just keep practicing. There are villainesses out there, too. We don't need you offering to escort them to their secret bases."

"I only did that once. I didn't even know she was a criminal!"

"C'mon, Cap, you just don't offer that to a woman clad in leather wearing cat ears."

"I'll help you practice." Natasha offered, shrugging her shoulders.

"I can help." Clint piped in.

"How is that supposed to help Steve conquer his fear of thighs?" Natasha laughed. "Unless you wanna do that with him. Plus, you know I'm better at hand to hand combat."

Clint snorted with a smile, but in his eyes disconcert was clearly visible.

"Hey, let's go a few rounds now. You're not tired, are you?"

"No." Steve answered, smiling as he stuffed his mouth with scrambled eggs. The man ate as much as Thor. That was definitely an achievement of some sort.

"Let's go, then." Steve was always a good bait, although Natasha took no pride in admitting it. No one wanted him to get lost in the ice again...Or Manhattan. Tony had gone as far as to suggest injecting a tracking chip on him. Steve had glared at him angrily. Of course, that was before their friendship...flourished.

Steve looked dejectedly at his meal, but he agreed with a decisive look in his face, taking a piece of toast with him. Clint disappeared, Natasha suspected, to his nest. That meant the terrace of Avengers Tower.

"You know, Tony has an awful fighting technique." Steve spoke in their way to the elevator, munching on his toast. "God knows what he would do without that suit of his. It worries me. He can't always have it with him, can he?"

"No, I guess he can't, but it's Stark. He can take care of himself. Rather, he won't let anyone take care of him, except for Pepper."

"Yeah, but she's not here now and...Hey, isn't the training room located in the 12th floor?"

"Yeah. We're not going to the training room. At least not now." She said, her look growing serious.

"Why? Is there something wrong?" Steve breathed deeply, trying to act as calmly as he could. Which was quite a task if you took into consideration that he didn't exactly enjoy using elevators, especially not with a cryptic Natasha in there with him.

"Nothing. I just have some things to do before." He heard Natasha say before she walked out the elevator into the first floor. Her step was quick, forcing Steve to increase his pace to be able to hold her arm as they walked, mainly because he couldn't walk as fast as she did and he would probably end up lost. She disregarded the fact completely, seemingly unbothered by their linked arms.

"Okay...Care to tell me, at least? I want to know where I'm going." Steve was being dragged between a multitude of people turning around them and passing them as obstacles as Natasha did. It was hard to follow. He had already bumped into several people.

"Mommy! He looks like Captain America!" A girl yelled from somewhere amongst the mass of people, but Steve couldn't turn to see who it was.

"Are we going to take-?"

"The subway? Yes."

Steve nodded and walked down, his eyes analyzing his surroundings and his head trying to imagine a good reason why they were there.

"Could you please buy some tickets, Steve? It's easier with just one of us in the line"

"Sure, no problem." Steve answered with a smile on his lips. After all, there were not many occasions in which Natasha let him act as a gentleman; particularly when it came to paying.

"Thanks" She smiled back, a sincere smile for a change.

The line was not that long, but it still gave Natasha enough time to leave while Steve counted some coins and moments later, asked for the tickets. Disappearing in the crowd was easy. It didn't precisely make her happy to leave Steve on the subway on his own, but he wasn't far from the exit, and it gave her the perfect chance to hide. She hoped he didn't hate her now. Then again, it was Steve. He couldn't. She wished she had prepared a proper goodbye, but time was not on her side at the moment. Nor was S.H.I.E.L.D. Captain America was her facade for the moment. She didn't even know where she was supposed to meet him. At the airport. Be ready, had been the only instructions given to her. Typical of him. But she would find out.

Eventually.


	3. два

"Tony? _Tony?!_"

"Who else could it be, Steve? You only have my number. And _you_ called _me_-"

"Oh, thanks God, Tony. Tony, I think I'm lost. Okay-I'm pretty sure I'm lost. And...and I think I lost Tasha, too."

"...According to the StarkPhone I gave you, you're in the sixth near Greenwich. Don't move from that spot, I'll be there to pick you u...Wait, you lost Natasha? Natasha _lost_ you, Cap."

"We were on the subway-you know I hate the subway, Tony, there are always massive amounts of people there-and I went to buy the tickets and I think it may have been my fault because I just couldn't find her in the mess of people and then a group of teenagers approached me and asked me for an autograph, and suddenly everyone recognized me and I _may_ have had to run away quickly."

"Chill out, Uncle Sam. Natasha _is_ Natasha. She'll show up sooner or later. Now, you, I'm picking you up as soon as I can. I'm already fetching my suit. Keep your panties on."

"Tony!" Steve moaned in exasperation. "Please don't use that language with me. And don't bring the suit, you'll cause a commotion."

"...Fine. Alright. It's the red Ferrari, then."

"TONY!"

Natasha threw her baggage to the floor, right next to the bench where she decided to sit. It was a sunny day, but there were still some puddles on the floor, probably from the night before. She probably wouldn't have chosen such a public place to wait, but the note clearly indicated that location.

_M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden _

A huge place, especially if you want to find someone. But again, she trusted him. She had been in Kiev before, and it was never a problem, but being so close to Russia and having so many enemies (not only hers, he had plenty as well) in there wasn't exactly pleasant.

"Hopefully, you did not wait long"

She turned around to see the man that approaching to her. "Sergei, Привет. Well, I guess he couldn't come"

"He couldn-"

"I know, I was kidding. Is he at least in Kiev? I don't feel like travelling again."

"Don't worry. Let's go." Sergei gave her a brief smile and took her luggage.

The place was unfamiliar to her, and yet it felt homely and cosy. At least as much as an underground dilapidated building-turned-laboratory can. He had never been one for material ostentation. Only his projects were scattered around, different colored wires tangled in each other leading up to pieces of metal that shone a yellowish hue in the dim lights of the room. There were some empty mugs, but besides that, the place looked considerably clean; probably due to Serguei. Natasha followed him through a narrow hall, which ended with a thick crystal door.

"It's for the noise" Serguei said with a smile. "It separates the lab from...here"

The next room was...different. To start with, the color palette had changed from white to gray and black. Sober, yet relaxing. The room had just a wide black sofa , a bookshelf , a television and what it seemed like quite a large bar.

"Is that a bar?"

"Not everything is work, Natasha." Serguei said, then added. " We can have a drink later, after I take this to your room" Oh, she had forgotten that she had let him carry her luggage all this time.

"I'm s-" But he was already entering to a room. She didn't follow him this time, yet she could see the small room from outside. A simple small bed with probably six or seven pillows. _Oh, he knew her well. _Serguei placed her baggage in a corner and closed the door.

"You can take a look later. Let's get a drink! Vodka? Beer? Whiskey?"

"Beer? No, no. Three Russians will drink Vodka"

Natasha smiled as she turned to the door. That rough English could only belong to...

"Ivan Antonovich. Have you finally finished working?" She asked as she pulled him into her arms.

"I never stop working, Natalia. But, let's drink"

They sat in the bar as Serguei prepared their drinks. Ivan's gaze was fixed in the three glasses as he tapped his fingers on the table. She had known Ivan for some time now, and she always felt a strong connection with him. _Always_. He had proved his loyalty and friendship repeatedly, even if he wasn't the most effusive person. That was the main reason why she had come, especially without telling the team. Nick Fury knew about their friendship and had threatened her before because of that, particularly after the Stark "incident". Conclusion: Fury and Stark would probably killed her before letting her come.

"How was your trip?" Ivan said, finally changing from English to Russian.

"Interesting. I didn't really know what to expect, but I definitely like Kiev." Natasha was eager to ask him what was wrong, but even if Seguei was the closest thing Ivan had to a friend (besides her), she was sure that he would not say a thing in front of him. The famous Ivan Vanko talking about his problems to a friend while he drank vodka? Not his style.

"Kiev is beautiful, still not as imposing as Russia" Serguei acknowledged, handing out the glasses.

Ivan and Natasha only nodded in must had certainly noticed the tension between them since the beginning, because he excused himself and left the room as soon as the drinks were ready.

"Are you alright?" She asked as soon as Serguei left the room.

"I've been better"

"What's wrong?"

"The trip must have been tiring. You should take a rest. I'll be working." he stood up, nursing his glass of vodka in his hand.

"Ivan..." She stood up as well. Even if he was one of the three people that she could list as "friends", that was not how she worked. She wished to know what she was doing miles away from where she was supposed to be.

"Good night, Natalia." And Vanko was not a man of many words. Eyes cast down, he left back for his lab tiredly.

Natasha sighed. She would let it drop. She was already in Kiev, there was no turning back. Not _now,_ at least.

Steve returned to the main floor of the Avengers Tower shaking his head to rid himself of the snow that had decided to settle on his hair. He still wasn't very comfortable in very cold weather, although he wouldn't tell anybody for fear of being mocked.

His annoyance at Clint's general foul mood and Fury's constant prodding and worrying-Steve also felt guilty because it had turned out _he_ had lost Natasha and not the other way around-had won the first time around. He had planned on leaving the Tower for a couple of hours at least, maybe only head to a local coffee shop down the street to draw. But he had had to admit to himself he felt better back in the Tower.

"Hey, you're back and you didn't even use my tracking device." Tony appeared in a wife-beater through the doorway (_how could he not be cold?_), cleaning his hands off smudges.  
Steve's eyes widened for a minute and then Tony started laughing. He frowned as Tony walked up to him and removed a sheet of paper stuck to Steve's back.

_If found frozen please return to Stark Tower_.

Steve moaned. "Not funny, Stark." He rubbed his frozen, red nose with the back of his hand and buried his hands deep inside the pockets of his coats. He felt something brush against his fingers.

"But it is." Tony shrugged. Steve was no longer paying attention to him, instead fishing for the small folded piece of paper. "What's that?" Tony said, peering curiously. "Another chick give you her number? Hey, I'm the billionaire! How come I don't get the numbers? Damn, must be the tight suit."

Steve blushed and put the paper back in his pocket. He knew Stark was going to have a great time making fun of the poor girl, so it would probably be better if he checked it later. "I'm gonna make myself some hot chocolate."

As he walked past Tony, he heard another comment about old people and aching bones, and rolled his eyes.

Later that day, he sat on his bed as he unfolded the small piece of paper. Whenever this happened-which was more often that he'd care to admit-, he usually called the girl and apologized because he felt uncomfortable dating a stranger. He was never going to get used to women's new _attitude_. But this was not that type of note.

_I'm fine.-N_

Steve's heart skipped one heartbeat...or several.

He thought about running out of the room and shouting to the world that Natasha was alright. But he knew better. This was a private note which had ended up somehow in his pocket, so there was a high chance that she didn't want a public announcement. He thought about Clint. Did he know? Unlikely. Clint seemed to be genuinely worried, he even confronted Fury about it. However, Fury seemed as nervous as Clint.

"Steve? Fury is here, he wants to see us all" He heard Bruce shouting from the other side of the door.

"I'll be there in a minute." He decided to wait. Maybe she was going to call him later. Hopefully.


	4. три

_Up in his nest, as usual_. Clint was perched on a set of girders carelessly, one leg swung over, watching the SHIELD agents several feet underneath him at work. Abigail Brand walks by hurriedly. Agent 13, a new recruit, had just been assigned a mission. There was a team of specialists devoted to working on The Behemont, a smaller version of the Helicarrier. He could see everything clearly, which was good because he was supposed to be on alert and he couldn't get Natasha out of his head.

He wondered where she was and why she hadn't told him. And if she hadn't, had her departure been willing?

"Agent Barton." Maria Hill's voice spoke in his right ear. "Doctor Banner requested your presence in his lab. Please head there right now."

Clint rolled his eyes and pressed his fingers to the communicator. "You could have told me yourself, Bruce."

"Sorry!" A voice replied meekly.

"What's wrong, Banner?"

He missed the smile on the latter's face until it was too late.

"Checkup."

"Fuck you, did you really have to page me for that?" Clint grimaces. Routinary checkup was embarrassing and unnecessary and obligatory all at once.

Bruce shrugs. The lucky bastard doesn't have to go through it because he himself is a doctor. "It was Agent Hill's idea. Otherwise you and Nat-otherwise you somehow manage to skip it altogether."

"That's the whole point." he replied grumpily.

"Just take off your shirt, Clint" Bruce sighed. Clint did as he was told , throwing his shirt directly to Bruce's face.  
"You can't just behave, can you?" He began preparing the needle for the blood test , when a couple of knocks interrupted him.

"Well, it looks like someone may need you. I should come back later."

"Stay there before I call Fury to make the tests himself" Bruce threatened, but changed the tone of his voice immediately to ask in whoever was knocking.

"Dr. Banner, Director Fury is asking for the test results. He needs them now."

Clint could swear he heard Bruce muttering "Thanks God".

"I must go then. Are you busy, Agent 19? please help me with Agent Barton's regular check up., it'll only take you twenty minutes "

"I guess I could do that." She answered resigned.

Bruce took a pile of papers from the cabinet and left. She started preparing a new syringe , her eyes fixed in the process.

Clint stared at her curiously. He was sure he had never seen her. There were many blonde girls with blue eyes working for SHIELD, but just a few were allow in the labs , and she was definitely not a nurse.

"Are you new?" He finally asked.

She took his arm and continue the procedure. "I began working here a week ago, Agent Barton."

"Clint. Only Fury calls me Agent Barton, and most of the times because he is mad at me. But Agent 19? That's even worse."

"Clint, I need you to fill these papers" She smiled .

"Sup?" Tony walked into the lab as if he owned the place, Steve trailing behind him like a lost puppy. "Should I start removing my clothes, Doctor?"

Bruce rolled his eyes, but still smiled. "Not yet. I'm still finishing up with Barton. You can wait here, though."

"Tsk, tsk. I can't believe these guys." he crossed his arms. "They dragged me from my workshop and I have a photoshoot for Forbes in half an hour."

"You're not gonna be on time." Steve frowned worriedly.

"Let me worry, Cap." he replied. "Hey, Bruce, how about I help you? I'll check myself. Not that I need to, I'm fine and dandy. And the good ole' Cap. For free."

"You're not a doctor, Tony." Bruce replied, jotting down his report on Clint.

"That's offensive. I actually have a couple of doctorates and a Master's Degree."

"…You know what I mean."

"Yep. You don't want me to kill the National Treasure. Hey, I know how to do this. Standard procedure. Check vital signs and all that jazz."

Bruce's mouth contorted into a grimace, which still was nothing compared to the look of pure horror Steve had on his face. "Tony, you're scaring him."

Tony turned around and patted Steve on the chest awkwardly. "You trust me, right, Cap?"

"Y-yes?"

"_See_?" And with that, he pulled Steve with him (he guessed Steve was not resisting much, otherwise he wouldn't have accomplished the task).

"C'mon, Cap! Let's go get our own room!" Tony yelled and opened the door, waiting for Steve. Bruce only send –a now blushing Steve-a compassionate look and shrugged helplessly.

"Well, Cap. Undress" Tony stated as he motioned his hands towards the stretcher.

"_What_?"

"Relax, Rogers. Shirt off"

Steve opened his mouth to protest, but finally decided against it. He pulled his shirt above his head with a troubled expression and sat down as instructed. There was something definitely awkward about this whole ordeal. Especially after noticing Tony's awed expression. Well. To be honest, we used to be more comfortable when he was lanky and he didn't receive stares of surprise when he removed his clothes.

"Whoa, Cap."

He cleared his throat nervously. "What?"

"Well, apparently, you've never taken a look at yourself in the mirror. Howard actually made an effort to create the perfect man. No wonder he spent _years_ looking for your frozen version." He scoffed the last part.

Steve shifted uncomfortably. "_Tony_. I'm freezing." he lied. "Do what you have to do, please."

He choked back a laugh as he reached for the proper utensils. _Freezing_. Steve cursed himself under his breath.

Tony placed his palm on Steve's chest and pushed him into the stretcher. "Lay down, it won't take long."

Steve shivered, without realizing that the stethoscope hadn't even grazed his skin yet. The touch oddly reminded him of Peggy, decades ago. Pleasant.

Hum.


End file.
